Ryanair and CEO are sued over stock price and labor relations

Staff Writer | Thursday November 8, 2018 6:10AM ET

America Chief executive Michael O'Leary

Ryanair Holdings and chief executive Michael O'Leary have been sued in New York by a shareholder that said Europe's largest airline defrauded investors and inflated its share price by overstating its ability to manage labor relations and keep costs down.

The complaint was filed on Tuesday night in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan by an Alabama pension fund, seeking class-action status and damages for investors in Ryanair's American depositary shares from May 30, 2017 to Sept. 28, 2018.

According to the complaint, Ryanair misled investors in regulatory filings and conference calls about its labor stability, including "industry leading" contracts with pilots and cabin crews, and its positive impact on operations.

"Unbeknownst to investors, the company's historical profit growth was built on an undisclosed and unsustainable foundation of worker exploitation and employee turnover," the complaint said. "The decline in the price of Ryanair ADSs was the direct result of the nature and extent of defendants' fraud finally being revealed to investors and the market." ■